It was a ludicrous claim from a man who approved the introduction of ‘dynamic pricing’ and a 30 percent fee on resold tickets for the World Cup, blatant attempts to fleece fans for as much of their money as possible – and yet moves that Infantino has not only staunchly defended, but also made light of.
“If some people put on the resale market, some tickets for the final at $2 million, number one it doesn’t mean that the tickets cost $2m,” Infantino said at a conference in Beverly Hills. “And number two it doesn’t mean that somebody will buy these tickets. And if somebody buys a ticket for the final for $2m, I will personally bring him a hotdog and a Coke to make sure that he has a great experience!
“But we have to look at the market – we are in the market in which entertainment is the most developed in the world. So, we have to apply market rates. In the U.S. it is permitted to resell tickets as well. So if you were to sell tickets at a price which is too low, these tickets will be resold at a much higher price.
“And as a matter of fact, even though some people are saying that the ticket prices we have are high, they still end up on the resale market at an even higher price, more than double of our price.”
This was a shameful abdication of responsibility from Infantino, with the man crowned ‘The King of Soccer’ by Trump taking a page out of the ultimate capitalist’s playbook by arguing that the market must always be allowed to decide the value of any commodity.
The bottom line, of course, is that the vast, vast majority of fans have been priced out of attending matches, and Football Supporters Europe (FSE) also pointed out that, “FIFA holds a monopoly over ticket sales for the 2026 World Cup and has used that power to impose conditions on fans that would never be acceptable in a competitive market… The reality is that FIFA’s unfair ticket practices leave loyal fans with no other choice – pay up or lose out.”
